The invention relates primarily to coiled electrode type electrochemical cells. For example, a coil of an active material such as lithium (for an anode) is placed in an insulator cup formed of a polymer material prevents direct contact between the lithium anode and the typically metallic housing for the cell as well as the cathode active material.
Unfortunately, the coiled electrode and the insulator cup itself are designed to occupy minimum space within the cell and thus possess dimensions that oftentimes result in damage during manual assembly. For example, the coiled electrode oftentimes includes a commercially available separator sheet or envelope around the electrode and the sheet easily sustains damage. Also, the coil itself can be damaged (e.g., deformed or squeezed, cut or torn) when it is inserted through upper edges of an open metallic housing.
Thus, the anode subassembly is essentially complete and can be combined with suitable electrolyte and cathode within a sealed enclosure, which for medical devices is typically formed of titanium, stainless steel or the like.
Inherently, the traditional process just described is labor intensive, with discrete variable highly controlled processing requiring the full attention and effort of anode fabrication engineers. Because the coiled electrode is inserted into an essentially opaque cup inspection of the partially or fully assembled electrochemical cell is oftentimes limited to electrical inspection or interrogation.
Thus, a need exists in the art to improve fabrication of coiled electrodes to improve the ability to fully inspect the partially assembled components and to decrease costs, process steps and lot variability with a concomitant increase in manufacturing yield, consistency, quality and performance of the resulting electrochemical cell.